Anniversary
by Rebel-Aquarius
Summary: Beast Boy can't stop missing Terra, can't stop visiting, or thinking about her. But maybe, with a little unexpected help, he may be able to let go, and to love again. Implied BBTerra main pairing is BBRae


Haha! Just like I promised on my bio, I have FINALLY been able to put this one-shot up! I know, it took me ages to write and upload, but now that I'm back, I've finally been able to get around to it! So here it is—my first ever BB/Rae fanfic. Hopefully it doesn't suck too badly…

Here goes nothing!

Anniversary:

Beast Boy always preferred to visit her by himself when it came time for their "anniversary," as he liked to call it.

For one thing, the cavern was always far more quiet when he was alone than when he went with the rest of the team; as much as he liked Starfire, he found it difficult to concentrate when she was off to the side, sobbing hysterically on Cyborg's shoulder and repeatedly wondering aloud, "why friend Terra had to leave them."

Robin and Cyborg were no better. They always ended up angry and brooding, blaming themselves, or blaming Slade, and never even bothering to try and discuss what was on their minds. Not that Beast Boy was all that eager to take a peek into the inner workings of either of his friends thoughts, but it kind of seemed like that was what people normally did when they were mourning.

As for Raven?

Beast Boy gave a rueful smirk, very much in contrast to his typical, light manner, and clambered over a few boulders that were blocking the path. Trying to mourn with Raven was like trying to explain your feelings to a brick wall. The more he tried to justify his right to miss the girl, the more Raven's pallid face became blank, until he finally stuttered off and gave up.

The truth was that, when he went with his friends, it only caused him more pain. He found himself growing angry with them for unnecessary reasons while they were in the cavern, and becoming frustrated; heck, he'd once even snapped at Starfire for talking to him after one of their visits. The alien's sobbing, Robin's dark broodings, Cyborg's self-berating…and then Raven's stupid, emotionless stare to top it all off made it unbearable.

Which was why he had, for the past month or so, been sneaking out alone to see her.

The statue loomed into view ahead of him, and Beast Boy felt his heart ache faintly.

"Hey, Terra," he murmured, settling himself down atop the huge rock so that he faced her head on. "How you doing?"

The teen closed his eyes, and shifted slightly, to make himself a bit more comfortable.

"Things have been okay with us. There've been no problems with villains lately, and it looks like Slade's dead, so you don't need to worry about him. Starfire's good; she'd the same as always, but she misses you a lot. We all do. Even Raven, actually."

He laughed weakly, but the cheerful sound seemed to die in the silence.

"I wish you were here, Terra," he murmured, burying his head in his hands. "I wish you hadn't left us…I need you…I need…"

He bit his lip, but somehow managed to whisper:

"I can't move on, but I need to so badly… Just, send me a sign that its okay, or an angel or something…just let me know—"

"Mind if I join you?" Someone said gently from behind him; Beast Boy must have leapt about a foot in the air, as he whirled around and came face to face with none other than—

Raven.

Beast Boy blinked rapidly, resisting the urge to pinch himself, in case he was hallucinating. Sure enough, though, Raven was right there in front of him, shifting from foot to foot and, for the first time in his life, looking distinctly nervous.

Somehow, he managed to get his voice back and croak out:

"R—Rae? What…what are you doing here?"

The girl stared at her feet, and at the craggy walls surrounding them, never truly meeting his eye.

"I know you've been sneaking out here to see her," she muttered, nodding at Terra. "And…when you went today…I thought maybe you'd want some company. Someone to talk things over with, maybe…"

Whoa.

Beast Boy swallowed hard, and blinked. Was she for real? It was Raven, for crying out loud! And he'd wanted to be left alone for the rest of the day, having Terra all to himself. And…and…wasn't this…wasn't this exactly what he'd wanted earlier?

He opened his mouth to speak, although to say what, he had absolutely no clue. So, unfortunately, the first thing that flew out was:

"You _followed_ me?"

Raven winced, and nodded. Shoot. That wasn't he'd meant to say—that sounded like denial, or an accusation, or whatever. He tried again.

"I mean…why?"

Raven shrugged, still looking distinctly uncomfortable. That wasn't he'd been aiming for either. Now it sounded like she was completely unwelcome. What the heck was wrong with him anyway? She was trying to be nice to him for once in his miserable little life, and he was blowing her off. He should just go quietly bury himself somewhere, before he did anymore damage.

"…that you wanted to be alone."

"Wha?" He asked intelligently, jerked out of his thoughts by Raven's voice. She kicked casually as a pebble near her foot, although from the way she was biting her lower lip didn't fool him at all.

"I said, I should have just figured that you wanted to be left alone with her." She nodded at Terra's statue, and instantly averted her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll just go now."

Beast Boy stared as she began to turn her back to him.

"Do you want to sit down?" He asked loudly, and all of the sudden. Raven turned back, looking surprised, and it was Beast Boy's turn to feel embarrassed now.

"You don't have to go. I was kind of hoping, earlier, for someone to talk to…so, you know…you can stay if you want to…"

There. He'd actually managed to invite her to stay without sounding too desperate, and he hadn't come off as a complete moron.

Raven gave him a long look, before she turned around again.

With slow, jerky movements, she sank down beside him, settling into a similar position as he was, with her feet dangling over the edge of the rock.

It was quiet for a minute or two.

"Cy says this is the second year she's been gone," Raven said finally, breaking the awkward silence. "You…you really miss her don't you?"

Beast Boy nodded mutely, wanting to look at her, but unwilling to take his eyes off of Terra's eternally frozen form.

The next thing he knew, however, his mouth had opened, and words were tumbling awkwardly out of his mouth.

"I…the first few months after she died—I kept bugging Cyborg to come up with some way to bring her back, kept hoping that somehow she'd find a way to wake up, and she'd be with us again…with _me_…"

Raven sighed softly, almost imperceptibly, and Beast Boy was surprised at the expression of regret on her face. The next thing she said, though, was far more astounding.

"I wish she was back too," she admitted. "Like you, I…I did nothing but meditate in my room, and look through every spell book I owned, and consulted with Cyborg…trying to see if there was even the smallest possibility that she could come back, because…because I wish that I'd had the chance to tell her that I was sorry, and to forgive her, before she left us."

Beast Boy said nothing, and Raven took this as a sign of encouragement to continue.

"I…I didn't really hate her as much as I pretended to. When she betrayed us, I was angry, but I was mostly…sad…because we couldn't keep her safe from Slade's grasp, like Robin."

"Y-Yeah," Beast Boy stuttered out, surprised at how emotional she sounded. "I know what you mean.

"Hey—at least we have each other, right?" Raven asked him. Beast Boy nodded…only to be shocked right out of his skin when Raven smiled openly at him a minute later. A boulder a few feet away cracked and broke into several pieces, and the changeling jumped. Raven coughed sheepishly.

"Sorry…I've been practicing, but even then it doesn't always work…"

"No," he found himself saying. "It's okay. You…you should smile more often. It makes you look—"

He stopped immediately, face turning a violent red. Raven stared at him, both in a mixture of surprise and skepticism.

"What?"

"N-Nothing…it's just…never mind."

Raven nodded, and Beast Boy noticed how her shoulders suddenly seemed to sag in disappointment. Slowly, she got to her feet.

"I'm…I'm going to head back now…you should have some time to yourself."

She began to float away down the tunnel from where she had come, and Beast Boy watched her go. His heart gave an odd pang.

"_**Send me a sign that it's okay..."**_

_Is it okay to love again?_

Beast Boy looked over at Terra's statue, and for a second, he could see her in his mind, smiling and laughing…and he could almost have sworn he saw her nod slightly.

_"Go ahead."_

Beast Boy blinked, as the words were whispered in her ear…before he found himself grinning slightly.

_"I'll always love you, Terra…"_

_"I know…go to her…"_

He didn't need anymore convincing. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted after his departing teammate.

"Raven! Raven, wait a minute! RAVEN!"

Far up ahead, he saw a faint shadow hesitate, before turning back in his direction.

"Beast Boy?"

He felt his heart skip a beat, and ran faster.

"Raven!"

"Beast Boy, what is it? What's wrong?" Raven's face peered around the corner, her brow wrinkled in faint concern.

Beast Boy skidded to a halt in front of her, panting heavily, his hands on his knees as he doubled over, wheezing for air. Raven watched with more than a trace of alarm.

"Beast Boy?" She asked nervously. "What's wrong?"

The boy managed to stand up straight, and looked her right in the eye.

"What I was going to say earlier," he said, without hesitation, "was that you look beautiful when you smile."

Raven's eyes widened in surprise, and Beast Boy was, at first, afraid that he had said the wrong thing, and misunderstood her actions. But a second later, it was his turn to stiffen in shock as she took a step forward and pressed her lips gently to his in a kiss.

Maybe he had made a mistake…after all, Terra was the only other girl he had ever kissed in his life, and it was a little awkward with Raven…maybe he should have waited a bit longer, so that he could willingly accept that Terra was gone, and then have turned to Raven… Maybe—

_Terra was in his mind, and she was laughing slightly, and shaking her head. He tried to reach out to her, but she put up a hand to stop him._

_"It's okay," she whispered. "It's okay…"_

Beast Boy felt his heart lift, and wrapped his arms around Raven's body.

_You sure know how to pick a strange angel, Terra,_ Beast Boy thought to himself, and kissed back.

**The End!**

For those of you who have seen "Lethal Weapon 4": If you noticed any similarities, yeah, that ending was borrowed from the discussion in the second to last scene between Mel Gibson and Danny Devito when they're at Gibson's wife's grave. This whole fic is really kind of similar to that whole scene, if you think about it…I dunno…I find inspiration in some odd places.

I hope this was okay, and that everyone who read this enjoyed it! I'll be putting up some other stuff too, so maybe I'll see you around!

Later!

--Rebel


End file.
